With a mostly-grass, undulating course drenched from all the recent wet weather that has pounded the East Coast, the early season muddy conditions left no doubt that cyclocross racing is already here. Racers weaved their way around the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, but did not race on the track as is done at the former Star Crossed venue and at the Roubaix World Cup.

The visiting Europeans (see our profiles in the upcoming Issue 14) made their presence felt, while Powers celebrated his first race wearing the new Rapha-Focus kit with a win, Brit Ian Field took second, while his compatriot, British National Champion Helen Wyman, took a commanding win in the women’s race. Wyman excelled in the muddy conditions, leaving no question she’s come back to the States motivated to earn UCI points and impress for her US-based sponsor.

Wyman took an early and uncontested lead in the women’s race, with Belgian racer Joyce Vanderbeeken and Laura Van Gilder close behind. Wyman’s gap only increased as the race wore on, though the Belgian impressed the crowds by being the only one of the elite women (or men) to ride through the 100 meter mud pit on the back stretch of the course. Wyman was the only woman who elected to run one of the short, steep hills, and clearly that was working for her.

Within just a lap, the women were strung out around the course: this is an interesting year for the MAC series elite women, as a lot of the regulars in the 3/4 field recently upgraded and are now racing with the elites.

In the men’s race, Jeremy Powers started strong in the front, with Ian Field on his heels. Field surprised spectators by taking the lead with a slight gap on Powers after the first lap. Fabio Ursi was a surprise contender, as he wasn’t on the BikeReg sign up, and he quickly became one of the racers to follow, catching up with Powers and Field. Luke Keough was also in the front group, though after a lap and a half, he had fallen back into the first chase group.

The barriers were fast, even with a short, steep run up immediately after:

After 25 minutes, the three racers had a 25 second gap on the chase group and the rest of the field was strung out across the course. The course was muddy but extremely hot, so elite men were allowed feeds. Many racers elected to change bikes because of the mud, though quite a few chose not to do so.

Halfway through the race, Powers and Field had created a gap on Ursi, though he maintained his third place spot. By the halfway point, Field and Powers had gapped the field by a full minute.

With one to go, Powers had a 13 second lead on Field. Coming into the finish, Powers pedaled casually, attempting to wipe some of the mud off of his white Rapha-Focus skinsuit as he crossed the line.

ELITE MEN RESULTS

Rank

Name

Nat.

Result

1

Jeremy POWERS

USA

57:11:00

2

Ian FIELD

GBR

57:42:00

3

Fabio URSI

ITA

58:11:00

4

Tom VAN DEN BOSCH

BEL

59:46:00

5

Justin LINDINE

USA

1:00:18

6

Eric BRUNGGER

SUI

1:00:40

7

Luke KEOUGH

USA

1:01:19

8

Jared NIETERS

USA

1:01:25

9

Weston SCHEMPF

USA

1:01:28

10

Andrew WULFKUHLE

USA

1:01:45

11

Greg WITTWER

USA

1:02:09

12

Noah NIWINSKI

USA

1:02:26

13

Ryan DEWALD

USA

1:02:26

14

Lukas MÜLLER

SUI

1:02:44

15

Zoltan TISZA

HUN

1:02:54

16

Bobby LEA

USA

1:03:04

17

Michael MIHALIK

USA

1:03:13

18

Donny GREEN

USA

1:03:16

19

Eric MUEHL

USA

1:03:28

20

Lucas LIVERMON

USA

1:03:34

21

Shaun ADAMSON

CAN

1:03:55

22

Robert MARION

USA

1:04:11

23

Wayne BRAY

USA

1:04:21

24

Gerald ADASAVAGE

USA

1:04:32

25

Bryan FAWLEY

USA

1:04:46

26

Cameron DODGE

USA

1:04:55

27

Jesse KEOUGH

USA

1:05:34

28

Steven ORDONS

USA

1:05:39

29

Kevin SWEENEY

USA

1:05:53

30

Patrick BRADLEY

USA

1:06:09

31

Christopher CONSORTO

USA

1:06:16

32

Evan HUFF

USA

1:06:23

33

Bryan FAWLEY

USA

1:06:35

34

Ryan LEACH

USA

1:06:53

35

Katriel STATMAN

USA

1:07:25

36

Gunnar BERGEY

USA

1:09:29

37

Fred BROWN

USA

38

Jackie SIMES

USA

39

Zach SEMIAN

USA

40

Shawn ADAMS

USA

41

Gavriel EPSTEIN

CAN

42

Benjamin SALIBRA

USA

43

Colin BECKER

USA

44

Guillaume NELESSEN

USA

45

James DOHERTY

USA

ELITE WOMEN RESULTS

Rank

Name

Nat.

Result

1

Helen WYMAN

GBR

46:17:00

2

Joyce VANDERBEKEN

BEL

47:23:00

3

Laura VAN GILDER

USA

47:53:00

4

Nicole THIEMANN

USA

48:12:00

5

Carolyn POPOVIC

USA

48:47:00

6

Gabriella DAY

GBR

49:08:00

7

Stacey BARBOSSA

USA

49:22:00

8

Kristin GAVIN

USA

49:35:00

9

Arley KEMMERER

USA

49:52:00

10

Anna YOUNG

USA

50:13:00

11

Patricia BUERKLE

USA

50:31:00

12

Frances MORRISON

USA

50:56:00

13

Rebecca WELLONS

USA

51:30:00

14

Kristen LASASSO

USA

52:03:00

15

Erin SILLIMAN

USA

52:28:00

16

Jennifer MAXWELL

USA

53:13:00

17

Lauri WEBBER

USA

53:47:00

18

Lenore PIPES

USA

54:02:00

19

Vicki THOMAS

CAN

54:05:00

20

Brittlee BOWMAN

USA

54:36:00

21

Rebecca FREDERICK

USA

55:15:00

22

Andrea LUEBBE

USA

55:40:00

23

Kim THOMAS

USA

55:53:00

24

Michelle BISHOP

USA

56:27:00

25

Erin MASCELLI

USA

56:59:00

26

Kathleen WULFKUHLE

USA

57:28:00

For photos of the Elite Men and Women’s Races, check out the gallery below:

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Cyclocross MagazineAbout Us

Cyclocross Magazine is a print and digital magazine and website for the cyclocross community by cyclocross racers. We’re based on community-contributed content, which means we welcome content submissions from anyone and prioritize representing all aspects of the sport of cyclocross, from the most grass-roots scene to the highest professional level of the sport.